Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Sudan: United Nations

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact that the closure of the UN Transitional Mission to Sudan will have on the Sudanese people and other UN operations; and whether they expect there to be a successor to that Mission.

Lord Benyon: The UK continues to use its position as penholder to speak out against egregious human rights abuses being committed by both warring parties, and call for a permanent ceasefire, a transfer of power to a civilian administration, as well as unfettered humanitarian access. We worked closely with Security Council members and the UN Secretariat to agree an orderly transition and liquidation last December; this was the best available outcome in the circumstances. We welcome the Secretary-General's appointment of Ramtane Lamamra as a personal envoy, whom we are keen to support.

Nigeria: Bilateral Aid

Baroness Cox: To ask His Majesty's Government howmuch bilateral aid they have sent to Nigeria since 2015.

Lord Benyon: The UK remains committed to supporting a more stable, resilient and prosperous Nigeria. From 2015 to 2022, the UK Government provided approximately £1.96 billion in bilateral Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) to Nigeria and has allocated £72.3 million in bilateral ODA for financial year 2023/2024. As well as supporting the humanitarian response in North East Nigeria, UK ODA has achieved sustainable results across a range of sectors. For example, the UK has supported over 2 million Nigerians to improve their incomes or jobs sustainably since 2015; strengthened education outcomes for over 8 million children since 2009; and supported over 1.5 million additional girls to access schooling in six states since 2012.

Sudan: Foreign Relations

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government, following the appointment of Tom Perriello as a temporary US special envoy for Sudan, when they intend to appoint a new Special Envoy for Sudan.

Lord Benyon: We do not currently have plans to appoint a new Special Envoy for Sudan. The Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea spends a significant amount of time on efforts to secure peace in Sudan, working closely with other envoys covering Sudan. Our Ambassador to Khartoum - now based in Addis Ababa - continues to engage with key international partners on achieving the UK's strategic objectives, as do other British Ambassadors in the region. We welcome Tom Perriello's appointment as the United States' new special envoy for Sudan, Minister Mitchell spoke with him on Monday 11th March.

South Asia: Development Aid

Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton: To ask His Majesty's Government what are the (1) actual, and (2) projected, aid contributions to individual countries in South Asia, broken down by category of project.

Lord Benyon: We do not have a breakdown by project category of future spend. Programme allocations are continually reviewed to respond to changing global needs, including humanitarian crises, fluctuations in GNI and other ODA allocation decisions.We do have information on project category spend for previous calendar years which is published in the statistics on international development. This data is based on calendar year not financial year and covers the whole of HMG. Please see below data based on 2022, the last available calendar year. 2022   2022 TotalRow LabelsAfghanistanBangladeshBhutanIndiaMaldivesNepalPakistanSri Lanka Administrative costs (non-sector allocable)£273,832£0£0£0£0£0£150,105£0£423,938Advanced technical and managerial training£0£0£0-£54,390£0-£2,535£0£0-£56,924Agricultural development£1,292,411£0£0£47,020£0£0-£1,361,746£0-£22,316Agricultural policy and administrative management£0£2,809£0-£152£0£0£0-£253,566-£250,909Agricultural research£0£0£0£240,948£0£0£7,715£0£248,663Agricultural services£0£0£0-£2,274,286£0£0£0£0-£2,274,286Anti-corruption organisations and institutions£2,518,313£576,402£0£0£0£175,805£144,143£0£3,414,663Basic drinking water supply£0£350,000£0£0£0£219,574£0£0£569,574Basic drinking water supply and basic sanitation£0£0£0£0£0£639,497-£1,361,746£0-£722,250Basic health care£707,157£250,000£0£0£0£2,994,645£387,457£0£4,339,258Basic life skills for adults£0£0£0£0£0£258,611£0£0£258,611Basic nutrition£0£712,997£0£0£0£14,770£0£0£727,767Basic sanitation£0£350,000£0£0£0£37,522-£2,723,493£0-£2,335,971Biodiversity£0£22,328£0£165,389£74,068£961,707£37,573£67,842£1,328,907Business development services£0£0£0£96,736£0£0£0£0£96,736Business policy and administration£0£0£0£565,783£0£0£437,513£0£1,003,296Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution£4,130,547£1,981,030£0£0£0£4,399£2,225,242£1,355,856£9,697,073Communications policy and administrative management£0£0£0£0£127,531£0£44,422£0£171,953COVID-19 control£0£23,407£0£802,602£0£0£5,949£0£831,958Culture£0£0£0£0£0£0£61,341£0£61,341Culture and recreation£0£0£0-£22,408£0£0£85,158£0£62,750Decentralisation and support to subnational government£0£0£0£0£138,288£2,475,959£0£0£2,614,248Democratic participation and civil society£250,000£1,394,795£0£0£57,419£973,571£443,327£0£3,119,111Domestic revenue mobilisation£0-£728,536£0£193,016£0£117,203£1,059,571£0£641,254Education and training in water supply and sanitation£0£0£0£0£0£12,737£0£0£12,737Education facilities and training£0£115,830£0£0£0£0£1,464,741£0£1,580,571Education policy and administrative management£0£577,278£0£97,983£0£0£3,077,249£0£3,752,510Educational research£0£361,000£0-£266,036£0£188,423£594,639£0£878,026Elections£0£12,027£0£0£0£0£900£0£12,927Electric mobility infrastructures£0£0£0£70,000£0£0£0£0£70,000Electric power transmission and distribution (centralised grids)£0£0£0£68,700£0£173,312£0£0£242,012Emergency food assistance£128,041,086£8,635,594£0£0£0£0£0£0£136,676,679Employment creation£0£0£0£0£0-£255,005£0£0-£255,005Ending violence against women and girls£21,461,697£1,009,135£0£0£0£728,846£3,068,578£0£26,268,255Energy generation, renewable sources - multiple technologies£0£0£0-£889,376£0£1,200,806£0£0£311,430Energy policy and administrative management£0£50,553£0£158,146£0£368,287£0£0£576,985Energy research£0£0£0£23,688£0£147,098£0£0£170,786Energy sector policy, planning and administration£0£0£0£1,479,122£0£0£0£0£1,479,122Environmental education/training£0£0£48,668£0£0£0£0£0£48,668Environmental policy and administrative management£635,676£6,904,699£0£24,064,426£0£4,380,855£5,812,804£0£41,798,459Environmental research£0£120,723£0£3,082,518£0£863,732£0£0£4,066,974Facilitation of orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility£0£102,902£0£0£0£234,377£0£0£337,279Family planning£265,080£565,862£0£0£0£102,500£3,660,244£0£4,593,686Financial policy and administrative management£0£0£0£507,690£0£0£301,387£0£809,077Formal sector financial intermediaries£0£0£0£49,665£0£0£0£0£49,665Health education£338,898£0£0£0£0£219,770£0£0£558,668Health personnel development£0£273,503£0£0£0£0£0£0£273,503Health policy and administrative management£0£1,760,392£0£3,122,660£0£2,298,530£343,452£0£7,525,034Higher education£911,301£649,203£172,288£2,693,479£214,955£434,329£1,992,063£395,690£7,463,308Human rights£0£1,775,384£0£0£183,646£0£0£0£1,959,030Immediate post-emergency reconstruction and rehabilitation£4,081,072£2,602,056£0£0£0£1,382,031£12£0£8,065,171Industrial development£0£0£0£0£0£317,516£0£0£317,516Industrial policy and administrative management£0£0£0£0£0£1,102,394£0£0£1,102,394Infectious disease control£0£344,911£0£106,589£0£721,591£3,657£0£1,176,748Informal/semi-formal financial intermediaries£1,133,493£0£0£65,012£0£129,305£0£0£1,327,810Information and communication technology (ICT)£0£277,978£0£0£0£0£0£0£277,978Legal and judicial development£0£562,328£0£0£207,433£219,762£1,059,545£23,435£2,072,502Legislatures and political parties£0£0£0£0£86,128£28,936£0£0£115,064Livestock£1,133,493£0£0£0£0£0£0£0£1,133,493Low-cost housing£0£0£0£7,590£0£0£0£0£7,590Material relief assistance and services£133,863,525£7,210,063£0£0£0£367,000£13,753,266£1,840,000£157,033,854Media and free flow of information£0£27,380£0£0£85,021£201,771£0£0£314,172Medical research£0£349,577£0£3,227,794£0£153,028£1,625,422£0£5,355,821Medical services£0£0£0£19,694£0£0£0£0£19,694Monetary institutions£0£0£0-£4,122,509£0£367,746£0£0-£3,754,763Multi-hazard response preparedness£0£3,119,353£0£0£0£2,296,059-£346,074£0£5,069,339Multisector aid£10,000,000£0£0£0£0£0£0£0£10,000,000Multisector education/training£179,070£2,964,257£0£10,757,244£0£1,082,590£5,089,541£1,148,813£21,221,516Participation in international peacekeeping operations-£26,486,939£0£0£0£0£0£0£0-£26,486,939Personnel development for population and reproductive health£0£628,071£0£0£0£0£0£0£628,071Population policy and administrative management£0£63,206£0£0£0£49,325£159,552£0£272,083Primary education£677,795£1,749,487£0£96,754£0£0£1,368,615£0£3,892,652Privatisation£4,424£0£0£62,081£0£0£0£0£66,505Public finance management (PFM)£0-£4,128,373£0£0£0£820,701£1,854,023£0-£1,453,650Public sector policy and administrative management£34,999£576,042£0£859,780£0£789,046£91,270£0£2,351,137Relief co-ordination and support services£59,853,084£2,072,828£0£0£0£0£6,022,939£0£67,948,851Removal of land mines and explosive remnants of war£5,000,000£0£0£0£0£0£0£0£5,000,000Reproductive health care£1,369,857£1,435,386£0£52,362£0£490,359£1,851,776£0£5,199,740Research/scientific institutions£378,625£1,287,873-£72,577£740,328£0£1,049,080£908,916£2,760£4,295,005Road transport£0£0£0-£1,137,143£0£2,256,726£1,800£0£1,121,383Rural development£0£0£0£0£0£202,165£0£0£202,165Security system management and reform£0£43,536£0£0£458,799£69,946£0£0£572,281Site preservation£0£0£0£0£0£0£0£0£0Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) development£5,530£0£0£1,245,753£0£0£0£0£1,251,283Social Protection£0£1,351,346£0£39,879£0-£345,949£226,615£0£1,271,891Solar energy for centralised grids£0£0£0£117,792£0£648,694£0£0£766,486Statistical capacity building£0£0£0£0£0£353,100£0£0£353,100Teacher training£0£508,061£0£0£0£0£663,698£0£1,171,759Trade facilitation£5,530£0£0£0£0£0£133,722£0£139,252Trade policy and administrative management£6,637£0£0£0£0£0£203,275£0£209,912Transport policy and administrative management£0£0£0£69,054£0£128,892£1,200£0£199,146Tuberculosis control£0£29,991£0£0£0£0£0£0£29,991Upper Secondary Education (modified and includes data from 11322)£338,898£897,000£0£0£0£0£985,293£0£2,221,190Urban development£0£0£0£542,146£0£0£0£0£542,146Urban development and management£0£1,050,000£0£78,000£0£695,269£781,523£0£2,604,792Vocational training£0£0£0£0£0£646,527£0£0£646,527Waste management/disposal£0£0£0£14,424£0£0£0£0£14,424Water resources conservation (including data collection)£0£0£0£0£0£219,574£0£0£219,574Water sector policy and administrative management£0£0£0£0£0£31,842£0£0£31,842Water supply - large systems£0£0£0£0£0£737,655£0£0£737,655Water supply and sanitation - large systems£0£0£0-£1,137,143£0£0£0£0-£1,137,143Women's rights organisations and movements, and government institutions£0£1,800,998£0£0£0£59,406£1,444,631£0£3,305,036Grand Total£352,405,092£54,672,670£148,379£45,728,404£1,633,288£37,241,408£57,842,803£4,580,830£554,252,874

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Animal Welfare: Public Consultation

Lord Trees: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timetable for consultingon activity regulations under the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad. Future decisions on which specific animal activities will fall in scope of the advertising ban will be evidence-based and subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. Sufficient, compelling evidence will be required to demonstrate why any specific advertising ban is needed. This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority and we are currently exploring a number of options to ensure progress as soon as is practicable.

Animals (Low-welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023

Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timetable for consultingon activity regulations under the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad. Future decisions on which specific animal activities will fall in scope of the advertising ban will be evidence-based and subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. Sufficient, compelling evidence will be required to demonstrate why any specific advertising ban is needed. This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority and we are currently exploring a number of options to ensure progress as soon as is practicable.

Sugar Beet: Production

Lord Framlingham: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the fall in overall domestic sugar beet production resulting from the proposed changes in agricultural policies and payments.

Lord Douglas-Miller: For around 2,300 growers in the East of England sugar beet plays a vital role in soil and crop health in the arable farm rotation, allowing a season of “rest” from cereal production. Farmers consider a range of factors, including global market developments in price, their soil type and their long-term agronomic strategy, when deciding which crops they should include in their crop rotation. Domestic disease and pest pressures and the weather will also impact the quality of the crop and resulting sugar production levels. The UK has a high degree of food security, built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years: historical production figures, including for the commodities you reference, can be found in “Agriculture in the United Kingdom”, a publication of annual statistics about agriculture in the United Kingdom at GOV.UK. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply. Domestically, the Government has committed to broadly maintain the current level of food we produce. This includes sustainably boosting production in sectors where there are post-Brexit opportunities, including horticulture and seafood, and the Agriculture Act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage environmentally sustainable food production. Our farming reforms aim to support a highly productive food producing sector by supporting farmers to manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, and by paying farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production. Speaking at the recent National Farmers Union Conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister and the Environment Secretary announced a range of measures to boost productivity and resilience in the sector, including the largest ever grant offer for farmers in the coming financial year, expected to total £427 million. This includes doubling investment in productivity schemes, bolstering schemes such as the Improving Farming Productivity grant, which provides support for farmers to invest in automation and robotics, as well as solar installations to build on-farm energy security. The Prime Minister also announced a new annual UK-wide Food Security Index, which will capture and present the data needed to monitor levels of food security, and announced plans to hold the Farm to Fork Summit annually.

Dogs

Baroness Hoey: To ask His Majesty's Government what rules exist for pet owners wishing to take their dog on holiday (1) from England to Northern Ireland, and (2) from England to Scotland.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The detail on the movement of pets from Great Britain to Northern Ireland can be found on the website of the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs: https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/travelling-pets. A copy is attached to this answer.Travelling with Pets - DAERA (pdf, 288.7KB)

Ministry of Justice

Remand in Custody: Insurance

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask His Majesty's Government what information they, or prison authorities, hold on the volume and value of claims by persons held in custody against (1) prison authorities, and (2) independent insurers (where prison authorities are made aware of the insurance claims).

Lord Bellamy: As of 4 March 2024, there were 3,828 open claims by prisoners against His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS). The nominal amount of claims against HMPPS is of the order of £62 million but that figure is not indicative of any ultimate liability. HMPPS does not hold data on claims made by prisoners against independent insurers. The number and value of claims has remained fairly consistent over recent years. A significant number of open claims and proportion of the total value of claims are historic and relate to incidents that are alleged to have occurred in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.HMPPS successfully defends around two-thirds of all litigation cases brought by prisoners. Where damages are awarded to prisoners, we seek to ensure that payments are offset against any outstanding debts owed to victims and the courts.

Cabinet Office

Prime Minister: Databases

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty's Government what projects have been undertaken by the 10 Downing Street Data Science Team since its establishment, and in each case what were the objectives and outcomes, and what is the current status, of these projects.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The No10 Data Science Team has a remit to improve the way in which key decisions are informed by data, analysis, and evidence using cutting-edge data science techniques. This enables the Government to use the best available evidence, throughout the policy and decision-making process, to drive long-term systems change and enable staff to collectively solve the most pressing policy challenges. They also use data to track delivery of government priority programs, working closely with Delivery Unit. The Government would not normally comment on the details of policy development and formation nor the process by which collective decisions are made across government. The team also runs a transformation program including: (1) project rAPId, a free, open source, lightweight data sharing system; (2) the No10 Innovation Fellowships, bringing industry expertise in AI into central government on year-long secondments to improve public services; (3) Evidence House, a program to upskill civil servants in data science, AI and software engineering; and crowdsource technical solutions to complex problems; and (4) creating and managing the new Incubator for Artificial Intelligence, a 30-strong team of AI experts who are working on rapid delivery of AI projects in line with the Prime Minister’s priorities.

Import Controls

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Neville-Rolfe on 5 January (HL1358), whetherthey plan to publish (1) the questions posed in the business readiness survey, and (2) a detailed summary of the responses from businesses,for the implementation of the Border Target Operating Model.

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Neville-Rolfe on 5 January (HL1358), why they do not plan topublish the readiness assessment for theimplementation of the Border Target Operating Model.

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Neville-Rolfe on 5 January (HL1357),what information and guidance that the final Border Target Operating Model committed to publish remains outstanding.

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Neville-Rolfe on 5 January (HL1361),which businesses have been selected to take part in live testing; how those businesses were selected; and whether the businesses include a mix of large and small operators.

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Neville-Rolfe on 27 December 2023 (HL1077), whatlevel of Common User Charge was included in the modelling of the inflationary impact of the Border Target Operating Model.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: In the Draft Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), published in April 2023 the UK Government asked industry to provide information on their readiness for the proposed regime. The questions included:What challenges exist for the private sector in meeting the proposed timeline for introducing the new model and how can specific business models for importing be further supported to prepare?What further detail is needed in order for businesses to prepare for and implement the new Border Target Operating Model? A summary of responses from stakeholders can be found in the Final BTOM, published in August 2023. In response to stakeholder feedback on the Draft BTOM, we made a change to the timeline for the introduction of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) controls to give more businesses time to prepare. The Government is delivering a programme of engagement with stakeholders across all sectors in all parts of the country and with key European Union trading partners to ensure readiness. There are no current plans for further publications on industry readiness as such, although discussions with stakeholders continue. However, we expect to publish the Government Response to the charging arrangements at government-run border control posts consultation in the coming weeks. Arrangements for physical checks for goods from the island of Ireland will be announced in due course - the UK Government is continuing to work with the Scottish and Welsh Government as well as the newly restored Northern Ireland Executive on this issue. We aim shortly to publish revised rules for importing animal products, plants and plant products into Great Britain for personal use, including those sent as post and parcels. All other supplementary guidance outlined in Annex H of the Final BTOM that was due to be published by end February 2024 has been released, and technical information surrounding the BTOM was issued in mid-February here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/border-target-operating-model-information-leaflets-for-businesses. With regards to live testing, traders, carriers and hauliers have been selected to take part in operational testing in conjunction with Defra and local Port Health Authorities and include a mix of large and smaller traders where possible. The tests vary according to route route, mode and commodity. Onboarding of traders into the testing regime, including some smaller businesses, is ongoing at this time with operational testing continuing in March and April. Estimates for the Common User Charge were included in the modelling of the inflationary impact of the Border Target Operating Model. The government used a wide array of data to input into the peer-reviewed model, including commercially sensitive data sources. To publish only a partial picture would not be in keeping with statistical propriety.

UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland

Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Irish sea border has been removed.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: By any sensible comparison with any other trade border in the world, there is no sense of a trade border for goods moving within the UK internal market. The smooth flow of goods within the UK internal market is secured and strengthened through our commitments in the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper.

UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland

Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: To ask His Majesty's Government whether, given UK internal market requirements, the EU still has any control of trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland throughRegulations 2023/1231 and2023/1128.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The EU does not have control over the movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. The operation of the UK internal market system is the responsibility of UK competent authorities. The Government has guaranteed the smooth flow of these and other goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland through the new UK internal market system, which complements the Windsor Framework and its associated legislation. Taken together, these will protect historic trade flows and reduce burdens and formalities on businesses seeking to trade across the UK, backed by a UK internal market guarantee and independent scrutiny.

Department for Business and Trade

Horizon IT System

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government how many formal complaints from Post Office sub-postmasters about the Horizon software that was updated in 2017 (1) have been made, and (2) still need to be resolved, about discrepancies and cash shortfalls in individual post offices; and in what towns and cities these complaints were made.

Lord Offord of Garvel: This is an operational matter for Post Office Limited. Post Office however continues to make improvements to the system and will be moving away from Horizon to a new cloud-based IT system. Government recently announced that it is providing £103 million to help with the development of the replacement for the Horizon IT system and to ensure Horizon is maintained while that replacement is rolled out.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Council Tax

Lord Rooker: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on(1) local government finances in England, and (2) the equality of taxation of council tax bands in Englandbeing based on property valuations from April 1991.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Government has no plans to reform the council tax system in this Parliament. A council tax revaluation would be expensive to undertake and could result in increases in bills for many households as well as disrupting the operation of the local government funding system. Council Tax levels are set by local authorities who are required to put in place council tax reduction schemes to help those in financial hardship. When setting out the resources available to local authorities, the annual Local Government Finance Settlement takes account of their differing abilities to generate income through council tax.

Homelessness: Government Assistance

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support people at risk ofhomelessness due to 'no fault' evictions.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Government is investing over £1.2 billion in the Homelessness Prevention Grant over three years, including a £109 million top-up for 2024/25, which gives councils the funding they need to prevent homelessness and support those at risk.Local authorities can use the funding flexibly to work with landlords to prevent evictions.Through our Renters (Reform) Bill, we will abolish ‘no fault’ evictions (Section 21), giving tenants greater security of tenure and thus reducing the risk of homelessness.

Property Management Companies: Fees and Charges

Lord Hain: To ask His Majesty's Government what regulatory powers they have to ensure leaseholders are protected from unreasonable charges or inadequate services property management agents.

Lord Hain: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the transparency of ownership structures of freehold property management agents.

Lord Hain: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have anyplans to launch a consultation about the experiences of leaseholders in relation to service charges.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: By law all variable service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to works or services, the works or services must be of a reasonable standard and leaseholders may challenge them at the property tribunal. It is also a legal requirement for managing and letting agents in England to belong to one of the two Government approved redress schemes.The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill will make it easier for leaseholders to scrutinise costs and challenge the services provided by both landlords and property managing agents. The Bill includes measures to require landlords to provide further information to leaseholders upfront and increase the transparency of their service charges and administration charges, as well as providing more information to leaseholders when requested.For those homeowners on private and mixed tenure freehold estates, the Bill will also give them rights to challenge costs at the tribunal and improved rights of transparency of costs and services.The Government intends to work closely with stakeholders to determine the detail of how the measures will work to protect leaseholders, which will be set out in secondary legislation.These measures, alongside existing protections and work undertaken by industry, will make property managing agents more accountable to the leaseholders and homeowners on freehold estates that pay for their services, and we will keep under review the need for further regulation in the sector.

Elections: Disinformation

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent any negative impact on this year's local elections as a result of fake news being disseminated through (1) artificial intelligence, and (2) other means.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Government is committed to safeguarding the UK’s elections and already has established systems and processes in place, to protect the democratic integrity of the UK.The Government has established the Defending Democracy Taskforce, which has a mandate to safeguard our democratic institutions and processes from the full range of threats, including digitally manipulated content. The Taskforce is an enduring government function which is ensuring we have a robust system in place to rapidly respond to any threats during election periods, including novel threats from artificial intelligence (AI).The new digital imprints regime, introduced by the Elections Act 2022, will increase the transparency of digital political advertising, including AI-generated material.Additionally, it is already an election offence for a person to make a false statement about a candidate which provides a reasonable check and balance against malicious smear campaigns.The threat to democracy from artificial intelligence was discussed at the AI Safety Summit in November 2023, reinforcing the Government’s commitment to international collaboration on this shared challenge.

Housing: Cooperatives

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to the development of more cooperative housing schemes.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Government is committed to supporting housing co-operatives and other providers of community-led housing. The National Planning Policy Framework sets out the Government's planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied, and was most recently revised in December 2023. The National Planning Policy Framework now includes several measures that will support the diversification of the housing market, including the growth of the community-led housing sector. These new measures include:A new community-led housing exception sites policy to encourage local authorities to support the development of community-led sites that deliver affordable housing to meet local need;encouragement to local planning authorities to seek opportunities to support small sites to come forward for community-led development for housing;greater emphasis on the role that community-led development can have in supporting the provision of housing in rural areas; anda definition of “community-led developments”, which will help planning authorities provide support for local proposals for community-led housing development;Community-based groups (or their partner organisations) who are registered as providers of social housing may apply for capital grant through the £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme (AHP).In addition, in 2023, we provided £3 million to support a social finance fund to provide equity and loan finance for community-led housing schemes across England. This fund is expected to support the delivery of 1587 homes over ten years.

Building Inspectors

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government whatis their latest assessment of the number of building inspectors and any risk to construction due to declines in their numbers.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: I refer the Noble Lady to the answer given to Question UIN 16272 on 5 March 2024. 16272 (pdf, 60.3KB)

Women and Equalities

Equality and Human Rights Commission: Disclosure of Information

Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty's Government what were the terms of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s standard non disclosure agreement prior to 1 December 2020.

Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty's Government what are the terms of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s standard non-disclosure agreement that have been used since 1 December 2020.

Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Barran on 6 February (HL1836),how many former Chief Executives of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have signed a specific non-disclosure agreement with regard to their work at the EHRC which is separate from, or additional to, any standard confidentiality clauses as part of their contracts of employment.

Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty's Government howmany individuals have left the leadership team of the Equality and Human Rights Commission since 1 December 2020; what roles those individuals had upon leaving; on what dates they left; for how long they had occupied the role; how long they had been employed by the Commission; and how many had signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of their departure.

Baroness Barran: As an executive non-departmental public body that is operationally independent, this is for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to respond. I have attached the response from the Interim Chief Executive below.Letter from Equality and Human Rights Commission (pdf, 116.7KB)

Treasury

VAT: Northern Ireland

Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: To ask His Majesty's Government whetherthey have sole responsibility for regulating Northern Ireland VAT or whether the EU has any authority relating to VAT matters in Northern Ireland.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The arrangements in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework guarantee Northern Ireland’s position within the UK’s VAT area. The freedoms secured under the Windsor Framework have already delivered benefits for NI people and businesses, including the application of zero rates on the installation of energy-saving materials and the UK-wide application of the changes agreed at Autumn Statement 2023, such as the removal of VAT on period underwear. All the VAT and excise measures announced at Spring Budget 2024 apply UK-wide.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits and Taxation: Nationality

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government why the Department for Work and Pensions and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have stopped publishing data on tax contributions and welfare payments by nationality.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: Following the review by the Office for Statistics Regulation, HMRC proposed changes to 25 statistics publications in a public consultation that ran from 24 October 2022 to 16 January 2023. In response to the user consultation the annual Income Tax, NICs, tax credits and child benefit statistics for non-UK nationals release was discontinued. The consultation suggested the statistics to be of limited value to users, due to the decrease in data coverage as tax credits claimants move across to Universal Credit, and the lack of timeliness in the data. Separately the DWP reviewed the ‘Nationality at point of National Insurance number registration of DWP working age benefit recipients’ statistics and announced in July 2022 that it would be ceasing publication of these statistics as they no longer met the purpose for which they were created. The statistics reflected the nationality status of the benefit claimants at the point of National Insurance number (NINo) registration, which does not necessarily reflect the nationality at the point of claiming the benefit, as the allocation of a NINo can be made many years, or even decades, before an individual claims a benefit. Therefore, benefit recipients who were non-UK nationals and subsequently obtained British citizenship would have been counted in those statistics as non-UK nationals. The proposals and outcomes from the consultation on changes to HMRC statistics publications are published on GOV.UK. HMRC does publish information on non-UK nationals in PAYE employment by nationality, region and industry on GOV.UK.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Carbon Emissions: Kenya

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the issues raised by the Survival International Report of the Northern Rangelands Trust carbon offsetting project in Kenya.

Lord Callanan: Carbon markets have huge potential to reduce the cost of meeting net zero, both in the UK and globally. This will help reduce the worst impacts of climate change, including for the most vulnerable communities. However, the Government is clear that for carbon markets to deliver, they need to demonstrate integrity and offer appropriate social protections. The report raises serious concerns about the impact of this project on Indigenous People and Local Communities (IPLCs), in addition to its delivery of real and permanent carbon reductions. The Government has acted both through our international climate finance and by supporting global integrity initiatives to improve transparency and safeguarding in the market. We will continue to ensure robust safeguards are in place through our international climate finance programming; and beyond this will continue to work through international fora, including the integrity initiatives and negotiations, to ensure IPLC voices are heard as the market evolves.

Housing: Construction

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact ofelectricity grid miscalculations on housebuilding in England.

Lord Callanan: The calculation of electricity network capacity for new housing developments is a matter for housing developers and network companies. Guidance on network capacity requirements for housing developments has been published by the Independent Networks Association, whose members are responsible for the connection of around 80 percent of newbuild developments. Distribution Network Operators also offer online calculators for housebuilders to determine the network capacity they might require for their developments.

Drax Power Station: Timber

Lord Birt: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by BBC Panorama that Drax power station is burning wood from forests defined by the government of British Columbia as "old growth" primary forests which provide unique habitats, structures and ecological functions.

Lord Callanan: Government continues to engage with the Canadian Authorities to discuss interactions between sustainable sourcing requirements and old growth areas, such as raised in the BBC report mentioned. Electricity generators only receive subsidies for the electricity they generate from biomass that has demonstrated compliance with stringent sustainability criteria, and the regulator, Ofgem, is responsible for ensuring compliance with these criteria.

Home Office

Asylum: Rwanda

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the application of all the provisions of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill to Northern Ireland in light of the judgment of the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland that the conditional immunity provisions in the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 are incompatible with Article 2 of the Windsor Framework.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The Government has consistently applied immigration policy across the United Kingdom as a whole. That remains our absolute intention with the Rwanda Bill, which provides for it to apply UK-wide. We have considered the judgment and have lodged an appeal.

Asylum: Children

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government howmany unaccompanied children seeking asylum who were housed in Home Office hotels are still missing; and what is the breakdown of (1) ages, and (2) length of time missing, for those children.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: We take any child going missing extremely seriously. When any child goes missing, a multi-agency missing persons protocol is mobilised. Many of those who have gone missing are subsequently traced and located.As of 5 March, 118 children are still missing. The majority were aged 16 and 17 when they went missing. Only about 18 are still under the age of 18. It is important to note that this data is from a live operational database and has not been quality assured to the same standard as published data.The most recent published data can be found at asylum and resettlement datasets on GOV.UK: (www.gov.uk).

Department for Transport

Road Safety Investigation Branch

Lord Berkeley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to (1) their announcement on 29 June 2022 about the creation of the Road Safety Investigation Branch, and (2) the Written Answer byLord Davies of Gower on 7 March (HL2831), whether they will now answer the question put; namely,what progress they have made in setting up theRoad Safety Investigation Branch.

Lord Davies of Gower: The Government is using the Automated Vehicles Bill to enable the creation of a capability within my department to investigate safety incidents involving at least one self-driving vehicle. Further development of this will be dependent on the availability of legislative time in future parliaments.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Film and Television: Government Assistance

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the film and television industry in England, including the freelance workforce, and toencourageinvestment from the US, following the industrial action byScreen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in 2023.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: His Majesty’s Government has set out a clear plan to grow the creative industries by a further £50 billion and to add another 1 million jobs in the sector by 2030. That includes supporting the growth of the television and film industry.Since 2010, HM Government has introduced a range of tax reliefs across the creative industries, including expanded relief for film and high-end television. Our screen sector tax relief is estimated to be worth more than £13 billion in Gross Value Added to the UK economy.We have taken a number of additional steps to ensure that British film and television companies are able to invest in production, expand their businesses, and offer opportunities for cast and crew across the UK, in spite of production disruption resulting from the pandemic and the recent strike action in the United States of America.This includes the £500 million Film and TV Production Restart Scheme and the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas. To build on this, and support the industry not only to survive but to thrive, the Government has taken further actions. This includes our support for the British Film Institute and British Film Commission, which has helped drive a near doubling of UK studio capacity, and the £28 million UK Global Screen Fund, which is expanding the global reach of UK independent content. The sector also benefits from the continued success of our screen sector tax reliefs (for film, high-end TV, animation and children’s TV), which in 2021–22 provided £792 million of support for over 1,000 projects.We recognise the impact of the American strikes on the film and TV workforce. HMRC has a ‘Time to Pay’ policy which may provide some support to affected cast and crew. This policy allows people experiencing temporary financial difficulty to schedule their tax debts in affordable, sustainable, and tailored instalments with no maximum repayment period. These arrangements can be applied to any tax debt and are flexible, so they can be amended if circumstances change.In the Creative Industries Sector Vision, the Government set out an ambition to improve the job quality and working practices of the sector, including supporting the high proportion of freelancers in the sector. This includes promoting fair treatment and working practices, enhancing support networks and resources for creative freelancers through Creative UK's Redesigning Freelancing initiative. DCMS and the industry will also continue to work together to produce an action plan in response to the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre’s Good Work Review, and proposals include the recent launch of the British Film Institute’s £1.5 million Good Work Programme for screen. The Government will continue to work with the BFI and the newly established screen sector Skills Task Force to support a strong skills pipeline in the sector and attractive careers pathways into the industry.

Ministry of Defence

Afghanistan: Refugees

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty's Government how many visas have been issued to members of the Afghan Special Police Commando Force under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

The Earl of Minto: I refer the noble Lord to the answers given by my right hon. Friend, the Minister for the Armed Forces (James Heappey), to Questions 11984 and 14769 tabled in the House of Commons by the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne and the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome.Afghanistan: Refugees (docx, 29.4KB)

Armed Forces: Civil Proceedings

Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: To ask His Majesty's Government what further action they plan to take to protect members of the security forces from vexatious court proceedings.

The Earl of Minto: The Government brought in The Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Act 2021, which reduces the uncertainty faced by our Service personnel and veterans in relation to historical allegations and claims arising from overseas operations. This legislation provides a better legal framework for dealing with allegations or claims from any future overseas conflicts. The Government is committed to ensuring our Service personnel and veterans have access to the legal protections they deserve. We are acutely aware of the individual human impact that historical investigations can place on those affected by them, and we are committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of all Service personnel.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Artificial Intelligence

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty's Government what are their priorities for the (1) development, and (2) application, of artificial intelligence; and how do those priorities align with national strategies for technology and the economy.

Viscount Camrose: The commitments made in the National AI Strategy and in the Science and Technology Framework remain central to DSIT’s approach to AI. We’re committed to delivering a pro-innovation and pro-safety approach to AI. As per the AI Regulation White Paper and the consultation response, we’ve set out how the Government is strengthening its global AI leadership and supporting regulators to deliver the framework. We’re also committed to increasing the UK’s capabilities in AI. We’re doing this by investing in skills and talent initiatives, delivering further investment in compute for AI, and prioritising AI adoption by establishing the AI Opportunity Forum.